The Day Batman Disappeared
by Crowlows19
Summary: Superman can't shake the feeling that Batman's disappearance isn't as innocent as it seems. With very little help from his team, he visits Gotham City in an attempt to locate the wayward member of the Justice League. However, Gotham's underworld is not something that Superman has much experience with nor is the very unhelpful police department. Three-part story.
1. Chapter 1

He couldn't really feel pain unless a being as powerful as him inflicted some sort of injury. Therefore, it was rare for him to feel physical pain and even more rare for him to feel as if he had aches and pains due to his ability to heal quickly. However, as he looked out of the glass panels of the Justice League meeting room and into the depths of space, he felt sore.

Someone once told him that humans could feel sore if they were exhausted or even emotionally distressed. He had never thought about those sensations before. Now he was so exhausted that his shoulders felt tight and his lower back felt weak. Despite this he didn't leave the Watchtower after his monitor shift but prefered to wander around the nearly deserted space station.

Only a skeleton crew was currently working the machines on the station so Superman didn't run into anyone as he wandered around the living complex. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he almost missed the noises coming from the cafeteria. He stopped, wondering if he should go in. He didn't particularly care to visit with anyone.

While he stood around indecisively, the person in the cafeteria continued what sounded like a shop project. He heard the very distinct sound of a screwdriver and then a wrench. He wondered why this person wasn't using the workshop.

Superman peered around the corner and found Batman completely engrossed in building...well Superman didn't know what. It was metal and that was all he could say. Despite the fact that everyone on the team had one reason or another to dislike Batman, Superman merely found him frustrating. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared and never seemed interested in forming any kind of bond with his teammates. If Superman hadn't been around anti-social people before he too would probably dislike this man.

Overcome by curiosity, he stepped into the room and made his way to the coffee machine. He poured two cups and carried them back to where Batman was sitting. He looked preoccupied but Superman knew him well enough to know that Batman was entirely aware of Superman's movements.

"You know we have a workshop for this type of stuff," Superman said giving the other man his cup of coffee.

"I'm aware," Batman said, never lifting his eyes. "The coffee's in here."

Superman smiled a little wondering if that was supposed to be funny. In his exhausted state, he found it slightly amusing.

"You could just sleep," Superman replied.

"Busy."

"Clearly. What is that thing anyway?"

"Auxiliary power booster for one of my cars."

"Why are you working on it here?" he asked. "I thought you had a giant cave somewhere that you put all this stuff in."

"Who the hell told you that?" Batman sneered.

"Flash," Superman said. "He said he woke up there after a battle and you had this giant set up down in a cave somewhere. He said he saw a dinosaur."

"Clearly he had a head injury."

"Yeah, he said you knocked him out pretty fast."

Batman simply grunted at this. He flipped the metal box-like object over and around in his hands, inspecting it closely before setting it aside in favor of the coffee.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked.

"Just finished my shift. Which reminds me, Diana said you were refusing to take your turn."

"I'm busy."

"You made a commitment."

"I can't do anything for you people this month."

"You people?" Superman questioned, surprised by the language. "You're apart of this team too, you know."

"Hardly," Batman snorted.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Superman asked, slightly offended. He wasn't sure if Batman just didn't want to commit or if he thought they didn't want him around. Either way, Superman believed that Batman was mistaken in whatever conclusion he'd drawn.

"I think you know," Batman said, coyly, sipping his coffee.

"No, I don't."

"Well, I don't know if you know this but I'm not really a people person."

"I noticed," Superman replied dryly, desperately trying not to laugh in Batman's face.

"And I've never worked with a team before."

"What about that cop? Gordon?"

"That's different," Batman snapped and his glare made it very clear that the line of conversation was over. "The Justice League is very different than anything I've done in Gotham."

"Are you trying to say that it's overwhelming?" Superman asked but even to his own ears it didn't sound right.

"No, I'm trying to tell you that my own duties may no longer allow me to be an active member of this team."

"You're quitting?" Superman inquired, honestly surprised by this turn of events. He knew that Batman was having a hard time connecting with the other members of the team, but he'd never considered that the man might leave. His next thought was how smoothly things would be from this point on which immediately made him feel guilty.

"I am," Batman replied. "I'll be around for emergencies but other than that I am going to ask all of you not to contact me."

"Is this only about work conflict?" Superman asked. If Batman was leaving because his Gotham duties were more important to him, then he wouldn't go out of his way to ask not to be contacted. He would want to keep an open line of communication even if it was just to keep up on League cases. Nothing about any of this was sitting well with Superman.

"Yes, it is," Batman told him, drained what was left of his coffee, gathered his things, and left. It would be only a few days later before Superman learned that no one in Gotham had seen any activity from the Batman. There was even a news article wondering why Batman wasn't responding to the kinds of crimes he was known to respond to. Superman used a League computer to access the Gotham police wire and heard quite a bit of chatter from the offices of Major Crimes to the offices in the 401 precinct looking for tips about the Batman's whereabouts. Apparently the 401, which was located in Crime Alley, were usually the first responders to Batman's aftermath. They were used to seeing him nearly every night but they hadn't seen him either.

Superman even tried Batman's League communicator which he had not left behind, but there was no answer. He had an uncomfortable feeling that he was the last person Batman had spoken to before he'd vanished and for some reason that feeling drove him to begin looking for the missing vigilante.

"He's probably fine," Flash said when Superman told the rest of the team about the sudden disappearance nearly a month after the conversation in the cafeteria. "I mean, it's Batman."

"I know that," Superman snarled, frustrated that none of them seemed to _get_ that Batman was missing. There were masked villains-people Batman usually responded to immediately-running loose in Gotham. Superman didn't know much about this man but he knew that he wouldn't have just left his city to this kind of violence. The Justice League had been forced to step in twice already to relieve the overwhelmed police force. "But I can't shake the feeling that something has happened. I think we should look for him."

"Do you have any proof that he's in trouble?" Wonder Woman questioned.

"She's right," Green Lantern agreed. "Unless he's being held somewhere we really don't have the right to step in. I mean, he's a weird guy. Maybe he just decided to disappear?"

"I don't think so," Superman replied. They were right on some level and he knew that. Batman had every right to quit and leave, no matter how out of character it seemed. But that didn't set right with Superman. There was something in his gut, some small little voice, that was telling him that something had happened. "I think we should look."

"And where do you suppose we start?" Flash asked. "We have no idea who he is or where he goes when he's not working."

"There is very little known about Batman," Aquaman chimed in. "And what we do know is likely not true."

"What do you mean?" Wonder Woman asked, curious.

"I mean we've all heard rumors about him. Most are ridiculous, of course, but can any of us honestly say that we know anything about him?"

"Not really," Green Lantern said, scratching at the stubble on his chin thoughtfully. "I mean I heard once that he had wings ten feet long and had black, pointed teeth."

"But what about what we do know?" Superman asked. "Did he ever talk to any of you? What about you Flash? You were in his cave once."

"Yeah, with a pretty bad concussion. I managed to stumble around half blind before he gave me a shot of something. I woke up in the Watchtower a few hours later and nobody had any idea how I'd gotten there. It didn't even show up on the cameras."

"What do you remember?" Superman pressed, unconcerned about Batman's ability to get around their security.

"I remember thinking that it was huge," Flash said, squinting his eyes as he tried to recall a very fuzzy memory. "I mean it was at least four stories, all underground. There was a giant computer bench that he was working on, all these cars and planes, and a t-rex."

"Seriously?" Green Lantern asked, amused. "A t-rex?"

"Yeah, it was life size model. I think it was a trophy or something. That's all I really got a look at. He snuck up behind me and knocked me out."

"We should look at the cave systems beneath Gotham," Superman said. "There has to be a system that's bigger than the others, one that could hold a hideout like that."

"You want to search Gotham for Batman's secret clubhouse?" Flash asked, shocked and more than a little alarmed. "Are you crazy? Even if you do find it what do think he's going to do when you fly in unannounced and uninvited? He'll kill you."

"He won't kill me," Superman replied, confidently. He wasn't sure if his confidence stemmed from his knowledge of his own abilities or if he honestly believed that Batman wouldn't do anything to him.

"You don't know that," Wonder Woman told him. "He could be doing anything right now. He _told_ you he didn't want to be contacted."

"Unless there was an emergency which says that he planned for us to be able to contact him," Aquaman argued, somewhat surprisingly. "I agree with Superman. This man is missing."

"But he still could have simply walked away. Maybe after he left he changed his mind and decided that he didn't even want _that_ limited contact," Wonder Woman reasoned. "Not one of us can honestly say that we know Batman well enough to hold him to his word."

Superman nodded because he could see that this made sense but it still sat ill with him. He just had a gut feeling that _something_ had happened and he needed to know what.

00000

Visiting Commissioner Gordon was the first thing that Superman knew he needed to do in his search for Batman. The police commissioner had a large office as befitting his station but it felt small due to the sheer amount of boxes and filing cabinets that had been stuffed in there. Superman had entered the darkened and empty office through an open window and he couldn't help but wonder if it had been left open for a specific person.

He looked over a large bulletin board that held a dozen open high profile cases. The board was crammed with photos, theories, and news articles. Some red string was connecting victims to suspects or suspects to murder weapons. None of it appeared to have anything to do with Batman. However, the board was so fascinating that he missed someone approaching the office until the doorknob was already being turned.

Gordon had barely opened the door before he clearly came to the conclusion that there was an intruder in his office. The door swung open violently and his gun was drawn in a flash.

"Who are you?" he demanded. Superman was surprised that the man didn't yell it in order to alert others to an intruder in police headquarters.

"That gun won't help you Commissioner," Superman told him politely, turning around and stepping into the light coming from the hallway. Gordon's eyes darted from his chest to his face and back again. Then his expression closed off and he squeezed the trigger. Superman was honestly surprised by the action and it was because of this that he didn't think to dodge the bullet but instead let it hit him. If he had been human he would have been shot in the heart.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just making sure you're you and not some crazy imposter in a costume. You'd be surprised how often that happens."

"Yes, well, I'm me." He tuned into the comings and goings of the building and was pleased to note that no one had seemed to have heard the gunshot. The building was pretty quiet, operating on a skeleton crew as one shit left and another began to trickle in.

"I can see that," Gordon replied and flicked on the lights. The room looked even more cluttered in the light than it did in the dark. "What do you want Superman? Get bored leaping over the buildings in Metropolis?"

"No," Superman said, amused by the comment. He'd heard something similar from Batman once. "I'm hear about the Batman."

Gordon sat behind his desk and booted up his computer before he bothered to answer his uninvited guest. "Sit down. I've had enough of vigilantes hovering over me." Superman immediately located a chair in the corner, placed the box it was housing on the floor, and brought it to sit down in front of the desk. He felt like a school child.

"What about Batman?" Gordon asked clicking through his computer, clearly only marginally interested in this conversation. Superman could honestly say that he'd only ever been ignored like this once before. He was perfectly comfortable with being ignored when he was in his civilian identity but for someone to ignore him in this identity was pretty rare.

"He's missing."

Gordon burst out laughing, highly amused.

"I'm serious," Superman said. "We haven't been able to get a hold of him despite the fact that he had informed us that we would. Have you had any activity from him recently?"

"No," Gordon replied, still paying more attention to his computer than to Superman. "But that's hardly unusual. The guy comes and goes as he sees fit. He's a vigilante; there's no role call or anything."

"I understand that," he said growing frustrated. It was like the Justice League meeting all over again. "However, I don't think he would be _this_ inaccessible."

Gordon looked up and leaned back in his chair, giving Superman a very contemplative look.

"We've had some incidents where I was certain he would show up but he didn't," Gordon confided, "but that's still not cause to think he's missing. He could easily be in deep cover. He's done that before too."

Superman hadn't thought about that. Batman had not once discussed his undercover work and he had been under the impression that he didn't do undercover work. Now that he thought about it, this seemed highly ridiculous. There was information that was best found through avenues that had nothing to do with beating people, frightening them to the point of loss of bladder control, or dangling people off of buildings. Would Batman respond to an emergency transmission from his Justice League communicator if he was undercover? Did Superman dare send him a fake signal to find out?

"Do you have any idea what he might have gone undercover to investigate?" he asked, hopeful that he'd get an answer to get rid of this feeling that something had happened. He wasn't close to Batman; he didn't really have the right to poke around in his business and to say that he had a gut feeling about Batman's most private actions was bordering on stupid. He knew all of this and despite all of this, he still couldn't shake that feeling.

"Of course not," Gordon said. "He does what he wants, when he wants, and if he decides he wants the police to take some sort of action he'll contact me. But that's really about it."

"Okay," Superman said, disappointed. "Thank you for your time."

As he stood up to go he caught Gordon giving him a contemplative look.

"Superman," he hedged. The alien paused and gave him the few moments he needed to make up his mind. "You should try Detective Blake in the 401 precinct down in Crime Alley. He has contact with Batman every now and then about drug runners. There's always a chance that he knows something."

"Thank you," Superman said, much more sincerely and was gone in a blink of Gordon's eye.


	2. Chapter 2

Whereas the headquarters for the G.C.P.D. was housed in an old but opulent building, the building housing the 401 precinct was not only just plain old but falling apart. There were loose wires, the computers were horribly outdated, the lights flickered, the roof leaked, and the tiles were cracked. There was more than one suspect stain. Superman wondered why the police union hadn't stepped in; this could hardly fit the definition of a safe workplace. The building definitely wasn't up to code.

Unlike with Gordon, Superman couldn't just slip in through a window and have a private conversation with Detective Blake. Detective Blake's work station was housed in the bullpen and therefore Superman was forced to walk through the crowds in order to reach his desk. The second he stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway to the Department of Narcotics, the entire floor stopped, fell silent, and stared.

"I'm looking for Detective Blake," he said to the closest person, a woman in a police uniform. Her mouth was hanging open and she pointed meekly to where a man with short brown hair was staring at him along with everyone else. Blake was a man somewhere in his thirties, had a small scar over his right eye, and at least forty case files piled on his desk. His desktop computer was making a rather unpleasant sound as it did everything it could not to sputter, catch fire, and die.

"Hello," Superman greeted, striding over, and sticking his hand out to shake. The police man didn't stand up or move to shake his hand.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked, not rudely but certainly with no hint of politeness either.

"Oh, well, Gordon sent me actually."

"Commissioner Gordon?"

"Yes," Superman replied and glanced around the station. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately."

"Why?" Blake asked, immediately suspicious and Superman was reminded that he was standing in one of the most violent sections of one of the most violent cities in the country. There was an 80 percent chance Blake didn't even trust his own partner. Superman would have to tread carefully.

"I would really prefer to answer that in private," he said. "I have a rather...sensitive case that Gordon thought you might be able to help me with. You can call and confirm if you need to."

"Follow me," Blake said, not bothering to phone the Commissioner and led Superman to an empty office two floors above Blake's work station. He gestured for Superman to take an empty but dusty chair while he leaned against an old desk, arms crossed. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Superman couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not so he just took it as the invitation he wanted.

"Have you seen Batman within the last month or so?" he asked and Blake blinked in surprise. Whatever he might have been expecting to come out the famed Superman's mouth, this had not been it.

"What would you possibly want with the Batman?"

"I believe he's missing," Superman replied prepared for some sort of laughter as if he'd uttered the best joke of the day. However, Blake just looked at him curiously.

"Well, he's dropped off the radar before," Blake said. "Sometimes for years at a time."

"Really?" Superman hadn't really dug into the Batman's background before coming here. The newspapers had all reported on his biggest actions through the years which Superman had diligently kept up with the same as everyone else. He had even written a few of those articles. And while the press had reported long, extended absences Superman had never thought that Batman had dropped his contact with the G.C.P.D. He had always assumed that the Batman truly preferred to work quietly.

"Oh yeah," Blake said with a roll of his eyes. "The last I heard of him was about three weeks ago. He dropped me a hint about a drug dealer I've been trying to track for a while now."

"Did he go after the dealer?"

"Not that I was aware of," Blake told him but he looked thoughtful. "At least, there's been no arrest. We've had surveillance on the guy ever since and nothing appeared out of the ordinary. I don't think the Batman's been near the dude. At least, not since he told me about him. There's every chance in the world he had contact with him before that."

"Who is this dealer?"

"Just some mid-level guy. Violent but dumb as a stump. He's only been in this position for a year or so and already we're building a seriously good case against him and his crew. Batman knows that which is probably why he's staying away."

"What do you mean?" Superman asked, curious. He had never seen Batman back off for the police.

"Juries don't really like evidence that comes from a vigilante bust," Blake replied. "We've had lawyers in the past manage to claim that evidence was planted. Batman has a tendency to drop a lot of anonymous tips in cases like these. This bust will put a nice hiccup in the operation which will hopefully make the big fish more vulnerable."

"Is that when Batman usually shows up?" Superman asked. "When the big fish are vulnerable?"

Blake nodded. "Oh yeah. They always tend to put up a big fight when we breach their compounds. Batman's usually the first guy through the door. Well, it's actually more of the skylight but you get what I mean."

"Yes, I do," Superman said, amused despite himself. "But what about all the masked activity going on lately? Doesn't he usually respond to that regardless?"

"Yeah, actually he does," Blake told him and he now looked extremely curious. Superman could practically hear the cogs in his head moving. "You really think he's missing?"

"Yes, I do. He told me I would be able to get into contact with him but so far he's been unreachable. I was hoping he just might be in deep cover. Do you know of anyone who he might be looking to bring down? Anyone who's been especially difficult to touch?"

Blake stood from the desk, looked towards the door to make sure it was closed, and then shifted from foot to foot nervously. Superman had clearly struck a nerve.

"There's nobody out there Detective," he said and tapped his left earlobe. "Super hearing." Blake nodded but still looked uncomfortable.

"Look, Gotham doesn't run like Metropolis," he finally said. "I could get in a lot of trouble for talking to you, even with Gordon's blessing. The official policy is to arrest the vigilante known as the Batman on sight."

"I understand," Superman said, concerned by this sudden change in what had appeared to be a completely stoic and controlled police detective.

"No, you don't," Blake snapped. "Have you ever even been to Gotham before?" Superman told him no, despite the fact that he'd been here many times in his civilian identity and even with the Justice League. He wanted to see what Blake would say. "Sometimes when you start digging too deep in a city like this you start to overturn things you never wanted to find in the first place."

"Is that what happened?" Superman asked. "Did you dig too deep Detective?"

Blake nodded.

"I did."

"What did you find?"

"I was investigating a series of crimes here in the Alley. My witnesses kept clamming up and I started to suspect that someone was intimidating them, more than normal I mean. I started to piece together a cover up of a much bigger crime. I had originally assumed that all of this was just typical drug running but it wasn't. It was something else."

"What?"

"Some weird drug compound coming in from out of town. Someone was flooding the streets with it. It causes an intense sense of euphoria and giddiness. It's also incredibly easy to overdose on the stuff but it's making a ton of money. I was able to trace the drug to several sources: tenement buildings, mostly.

"I started digging around to see if the buildings were being chosen at random and I found that they weren't. They're all owned by the same guy."

"Who?"

"He was using a false name, one he'd never used before but someone slipped me some information on who he was."

"Who was he?" Superman pressed, hoping if he sounded stern enough the man would stop dancing around what he clearly didn't want to say.

"The Joker."

"Since when does the Joker care to be a slumlord?" Superman asked, surprised.

"He doesn't," Blake said. "That's the problem. Whatever reason Joker had for synthesising that drug, it had nothing to do with making a buttload of cash. The guy doesn't care about money. He's up to something and I couldn't figure out what."

"So what did you do?"

"I asked the Batman for help," Blake snapped. "What do you think I did?"

"When was this?"

"Little over a month ago," Blake replied. "When he came back with a tip on one of Joker's mid-level dealers I figured he was piecing it all together. I thought he went underground to work it all out. Are you sure he's missing and not just working on this?"

Superman pondered that. Detective Blake would have given Batman this case just before the conversation in the Watchtower cafeteria. While that would explain why Batman believed he was too busy to continue being more than a passing member, it still didn't explain Superman's feeling that something bad had happened. In fact, it made the feeling worse. After all, if Batman had gone after Joker and had been taken or killed it would explain why he hadn't kept his word about being contacted.

"Let me ask you something," Superman hedged. "How long have you been working with Batman?"

"A while now," Blake replied noncommittally.

"And in that time has he ever said one thing and done another?"

"No," Blake said, eyeing him. "Look, before you start digging around in this case-and blow it-I really think you should just keep trying to contact him." Superman couldn't muster up any feelings of consternation about Blake's feelings towards his ability to handle a big Gotham case. Mostly because he already knew that he didn't have enough information to handle the case properly.

"Any suggestions?"

"Well, there's always the spotlight on top of G.C.P.D. headquarters but then you'll be at odds with Gordon. He doesn't like anyone touching his light. What about Batman's hidey-hole?"

"Excuse me?" Superman asked, genuinely curious about what the G.C.P.D. thought about where Batman parked his car during the day.

"Well, we've seen that guy running around for awhile now. Cars, motorcycles, that plane thing. Hell, I heard he stole a dinosaur once. It all has to be hidden somewhere. "

It took a great deal of self-restraint on Superman's part not burst into giggles. He turned to go but stopped to ask one more question.

"One last thing," he said, apologetically.

"Shoot."

"Who was the mid-level dealer Batman handed to you?" That was Batman's last known communication. It was worth looking into if nothing else panned out.

"Willis Todd."

00000

Superman took Blake's advice to continue his search for Batman's 'hidey-hole' before he poked his nose into Batman's Joker case. Only if everything else failed would he track down this Willis Todd character and find out if Batman had visited the dealer. In the meantime, Superman went back to the Watchtower in order to use the high-powered super-computer. It would get the job done a lot quicker than his trusty but beat up laptop at home.

He had just entered his third hour of searching geological maps of Gotham City for cave systems large enough to hide all of Batman's stuff when he heard the tell-tale footsteps of Diana.

"What are you doing?" she asked when she came up behind him at the computer bank. She scanned the screen and even though he couldn't see her he knew she was frowning. "Is this about Batman again?"

"I went to Gotham last night," he admitted.

"And?"

"The police commissioner laughed at me at first. Then he sent me down to Crime Alley to talk to a detective. The detective had some interesting things to say about what Batman was working on before he quit on us and disappeared."

"So you still think he's missing?"

"Yes, I do."

"Kal-El," she sighed. "Why does the Batman leaving cause you such distress?"

"I'm not distressed," he replied, feeling a little offended even though it hadn't been an insult.

"Then why do you care so much about this man?" she asked and he could tell that she was genuinely trying to understand his actions. "I wasn't aware you were ever friendly with him."

"That's because we aren't friends," he said. "I just can't shake the feeling-"

"That something has happened to him. Yes, you have said so already, but _why_? Was he acting strange the last time you saw him?"

Superman finally looked at her head on. He could tell with one look that she was truly confused about why Superman thought Batman was missing. After all, Batman really hadn't been acting out of the ordinary, not with him and not with any of his usual Gotham contacts either. Nothing had technically been out of the ordinary expect that he wasn't showing up where he usually showed up.

Even Superman's limited experience with all things Batman told him that Batman's absence from certain crimes was strange if not downright alarming. He just didn't know how to express this in a way that would convince Diana that he wasn't acting crazy.

"No, he wasn't acting strange. I'm sorry Diana, I really don't know how to explain this to you. I just know that I've been at this long enough to know to trust my gut and my gut is telling me I have to find this man."

"Fine," she said. "I will help you."

"Really?" he asked, surprised and also a little worried. Batman and Diana didn't always get along. Batman was coarse, unyielding, and cold. He had very little interest in pandering to someone with the powers of a god who was also experiencing culture shock. He left explanations about not throwing policemen through walls because they said you were contaminating their crime scene to other people. If Diana was doing something wrong Batman was more likely to end up in a physical altercation with her than he was to try to explain the rules outside of Themyscira.

"Well, I will help you with whatever it is you are doing," she said, gesturing to the computer screen. "Unfortunately, you will have to go on your rescue mission yourself." Superman quickly agreed and she pulled up a chair to the workstation next to him. He sent her a series of maps and asked her to look through each one for a cave that might be large enough to hold Batman's hideout.

"Flash said it was huge but that it was also very open. He didn't set up shop in a bunch of interconnecting caverns but rather in one large cavern. Even if he did enlarge it himself there's only so much dynamite you can blast down there before the entire system would become too unstable even with support beams and the like. So the cavern's large size will be mostly natural."

"Alright," she nodded and began to work. They poured through maps of Gotham's cave systems, studying each one carefully before marking it as a 'likely' or 'not-likely'. After several hours they were able to move to their 'likely' pile which they printed out and began searching through those maps with a fine toothed comb. It was Wonder Woman who found something first.

"Where did you find these maps?" she asked.

"Online mostly. Gotham has several institutions involved with geological mapping but the urban planning offices had a quite a few maps as well. Why?"

"These maps have been doctored," she replied and he looked at her in shock.

"What?" he asked, standing up so he could get a good look at the upside down map she had been looking at. She too stood up, moving so they could stand side by side.

"Look at this section here," she said and pointed to an area that hadn't been marked with any sort of extensive cave system. "On this map the system to the south and west of this blank area are called the Ferae system."

"Alright," he said uncertain where she was going with this. He waited while she fished out another map she had previously discarded. Layering it over the one they'd been looking at she pointed to the same blank area.

"On this map there's a system to the east that is also called the Ferae system."

"And?"

"Why give two separate systems the same name?"

"Maybe it's a mistake?" he countered but his curiosity was piqued.

"I do not think so," she responded. "On the other maps this eastern section is not named but it borders this system." She pointed to another cave system which had actually been a series of old mines and was today referred to as the Tunnels. "It looks like it's been lumped into this system but I think it truly belongs to the Ferae."

"But what about this big blank spot?" Superman asked. "That same spot is on all of the maps."

"Yes, I believe that is the doctored part. Kal-El, we Amazons are well versed in map reading and drawing. It is a standard part of our training. I know a doctored map when I see one."

He couldn't quite argue with her training but the easiest explanation for the one anomaly they'd found was that it was a mislabel not that it was the only mistake in what would otherwise be a remarkable cover up.

"I don't know," he said.

"If Batman truly did put his headquarters inside a cave he would have a vested interest in making sure that it was hidden," she argued. "He would never purposefully leave evidence that a good Google search could pick up. I mean look at this map. This blank area is surrounded by systems and the Ferae system makes a near perfect loop on three sides." She picked up a highlighter and drew a bright yellow line from where the disputed area of the tunnels were to the eastern border of Ferae system began.

"It looks like a full system," he remarked becoming more convinced by the second.

"Yes," she replied. "Now it looks like most of the other systems in the area."

"Alright," he told her. "Let's check it out."

"No."

"What?" he asked, shocked she didn't want to go to check and see if she was right.

"I told you I would help you with these maps, nothing more. I am still not convinced that the Batman is in distress and I have no interest in unduly trespassing on his headquarters. Especially since he has gone to such great lengths to hide it from the world. You are on your own."

"Fine," he replied, too anxious to leave to pick another argument about whether or not Batman was in trouble. "Well, thank you for helping me with the maps at least."

She nodded, turned, and left him there to clean up after himself.

00000

Diana had been right about the maps being doctored. The Ferae system did continue past what the maps claimed were its boundaries and Superman found himself flying through a series of caverns that weren't supposed to exist. He was deep into the unmapped portion when he was suddenly slammed to the ground by a heavy falling object. He had lifted himself back up and stepped from under the debris before he realized it hadn't been a natural object but a titanium security gate.

Yes, he was definitely in the right place. He was tripping someone's security and he had to go through another three falling gates before he finally turned a corner and found himself in a giant cavern at least seven stories high and wide enough to house all of the Kent fields and then some.

Batman's headquarters was truly spectacular. To one side he saw a tremendous waterfall that landed in a deep pool. What looked to be a submarine-boat hybrid was docked there. Superman slowly drifted through the cavern and saw a multitude of cars, planes, and motorcycles. There was a full gym, what looked to be a fully stocked library, several doors that led to who knew what, and a giant penny. He passed a whole level of what looked to be Batman's collection of trophies though he likely would have called it the evidence. And there, on the next to last floor, next to where a field hospital had been set up, was the famed dinosaur everyone was so fascinated with.

Superman landed here and walked to a wide set of stairs that led to the uppermost portion of the place. This was the smallest floor and housed only a giant super-computer. He stared at it a moment, wondering whether or not to touch it when he heard a screeching above him. He looked up and found thousands of bats hanging from the cave ceiling. He briefly wondered if this was the closest thing the Batman had to company down here. The thought made him inexplicably sad despite the fact that Batman had never seemed to lament his lack of friends. In fact, he seemed to wholeheartedly embrace it.

While he was looking at the bats he happened to spy what looked to be foundations. There was a building sitting on top of this place. He managed to x-ray the ceiling of the cave but whatever structure rested above had a lead-lined base. By the sheer amount of lead he saw that the building was gigantic. Turning back to his immediate surroundings he looked for a way to reach this upper building and found what looked to be door similar to the security gates he had already passed through. He tried to x-ray that as well but it too was lead lined.

He wondered if Batman had known he would one day break into this place or if he was just that paranoid. He stepped toward the door, with every intention of breaking it down, when a sudden voice stopped him dead.

"I would advise against that, sir," it said and Superman looked around wildly before he noticed the computer. The screen had come to life, the Batman's symbol looking down on him from a movie theatre sized screen. Superman went and stood directly in front of screen.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am codenamed Penny-One," the voice said and it became clear that while the voice was male, it was being distorted to hide everything else.

"Are you Batman's partner?" he asked, curious. He had never heard of Penny-One. Everyone knew about Gordon and clearly Blake hadn't been a secret but Penny-One was entirely new. It didn't sound like a typical superhero name but the type of codename you used when you didn't want to attach your name to an operation. He had come across similar names when writing articles about the military.

"Not quite, sir," Penny-One replied. "Might I inquire as to what you are doing in the cave?"

"I'm looking for Batman."

"The Batman is not currently available," Penny-One told him. "If this is an emergency, might I suggest the Justice League?"

"Is the Batman missing?" Superman asked quickly, hoping that if he sprung the subject on Penny-One he might get some honest answers.

There was a long pause and then, "What do you mean missing, sir?"

"I mean nobody's seen him for weeks. Not the League, not the police. He said I would be able to get in touch with him but he hasn't responded to anything. Is he here? Is he upstairs?"

"No, he is not," Penny-One admitted.

"When was the last time you spoke to him?"

"Nearly three and a half weeks ago," Penny-One replied. There was a sudden blinking of lights around him and he was instantly surrounded by holograms. The one to his right was the Joker, the Batman stood in front of him, a plain clothed man stood to his left. "I too have been investigating the Batman's disappearance."

"Detective Blake said that he was investigating something to do with the Joker."

"Indeed," Penny-One confirmed. "The Joker has been synthesizing a recreational drug that shares a remarkable amount of characteristics with his deadly laughing gas. The Batman suspected that he was testing this compound by selling it to drug users but that the true purpose of the drug was far more nefarious."

"Like what?"

"Like a poison. The Batman believe that the Joker was attempting to understand how the drug worked in the human body and at which concentrations it would be deadly. Unlike his laughing gas, this compound can be hidden in food and drink. It is a liquid, tasteless, colorless, and ultimately undetectable."

The computer screen flickered from the symbol to show a molecule that Superman had no hope of recognizing but assumed was the drug in question.

"Upon entering the bloodstream, the drug causes intense feelings of euphoria and giddiness but in high concentrations will also render a person highly suggestable. They can essentially be rendered incapacitated. Victims who have overdosed have giggled or laughed until their very last breath and are usually found to still be smiling after death."

Superman knew that was how Joker liked to leave his victims and the thought made him sick. If Joker really was using Gotham's poor as lab rats it only made sense that Batman would have dropped everything to get to the bottom of what Joker was really planning to use the drug for. Blake himself had said that the Joker had little interest in money.

"Blake told me that the drugs were primarily coming out of a bunch of buildings that Joker owned," he said, recalling his conversation with Blake about the Joker not being interested in being a slumlord either. What was he doing with all those properties?

"Yes. The Joker has been funneling his drugs through the cities highest risk areas. He acquired several properties in Crime Alley that he used as a testing ground. The Joker's people patrol the properties, removing bodies and overdosed peoples as needed. They prevent any other drugs from entering so as not to eschew the results of the trial tests."

"Who is this man?" he asked pointing to the plain clothed man to his left.

"That is a petty criminal known as Willis Todd," Penny-One told him and Superman was interested to hear the name popping up again. It must be relatively important. "He normally works in Two-Face's gang but he managed to wiggle out of jail time after Batman's last confrontation with the crime boss. He was contracted by Joker's people to help push the drugs. His contacts have been very useful for allowing them to quickly set up a network. The Batman suspected that he would find a trail to the Joker through Todd."

"And did he?"

"I am not sure," Penny-One said. "He disappeared that very night."

"You think the Joker has him," Superman noted.

"It seems to be the logical conclusion, yes."

"Where is Todd's apartment?" he asked, fully expecting to be told not to interfere, that Penny-One was handling it. He was pleasantly surprised when an address replaced the molecule on the screen and Superman quickly memorized it.

"Tread carefully Superman," Penny-One advised. There was a metallic clicking sound and a drawer hidden in the consol suddenly popped open. The holograms disappeared when Superman stepped through them to see what was inside the drawer. It looked like a simple phone. "Take it. It is programmed to reach only me. Should you need any more information regarding whatever you may find, do not hesitate to ask. I would also ask that you keep me informed on your progress."

Superman was hesitant to agree to that considering what he knew about how sneaky the Batman was. However, he truly didn't have a reason to not trust Penny-One and he was finally getting concrete answers about what had happened to Batman. That terrible feeling he'd been trying explain for weeks had turned out to be spot on.

He took the phone.

"I'll call when I can," he told Penny-One and flew from the cave at superspeed not bothering to figure out what sort of building was sitting on top of the cave.

00000

Willis Todd's apartment was a two-room pile of junk located in what had to be the dirtiest building on the block. There was a tiny kitchen, no dining area, a small living area, one bedroom, and what looked to be a semi-functioning bathroom. When Superman blew in through the window, there was no one in immediate sight but he was quickly able to ascertain that there was one person inside the place. He found a tiny child coloring on the bed. The boy couldn't have been more than four or five with dark hair and deep blue eyes. He was humming to himself and his tongue was poking out in concentration. Superman almost hated to interrupt him.

He cleared his throat and the little boy jumped, frightened. He blinked several times when he caught sight of who was standing before him.

"Where are your parents?" Superman asked.

"Out," the kid said. "Are you-are-?"

"Am I really Superman?" he asked. He got this question a lot. The little boy nodded, his mouth hanging open, eyes wide. "Yes, I am. Are you here alone?" The kid nodded again, seemingly unconcerned with the fact that he was far too young to be left at home alone in this neighborhood. "Do you know when your mommy or daddy will be home?"

"I don't know," the kid replied.

"What's your name?"

"Jason," the boy told him, looking wary and starstruck at the same time. It was an uniquely adorable look.

"Well, hello, Jason."

"Hi. What are doing here?"

"Why? I am not welcome here?"

"No! No! You can stay! It's just that Dad doesn't really like superheroes right now. He might be mad that you're here."

Superman had no doubt that Willis Todd didn't like superheroes. As a man who worked for Two-Face and who was now moonlighting for the Joker, Todd had probably received more than one beat down from the Batman.

"Well, I guess I can ask you then. Have you seen the Batman?"

"No, but Mom and Dad did!"

"Really, when?"

"I don't know," Jason shrugged. "I only know about it because they were yelling about it when they got home and I could hear through the wall. Mom was crying really hard 'cause he scared her. I guess he jumped out of nowhere!"

"What did he do after that?" Superman asked, thoroughly curious.

"He beat up Dad," Jason replied and Superman was surprised that instead of sounding scared or angry, the kid sounded downright satisfied. He was still trying to formulate a response when the front door opened and a woman with brittle red hair, dark circles under her eyes, and track marks on her arms came in carrying a bag of groceries which she promptly dropped. Superman caught it and handed it back to her as she stared at him in fear.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" she exclaimed. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for the Batman," Superman replied. "I hear he beat up your husband." The woman glared at Jason who smiled back cheekily.

"Yeah? You here to finish the job? I hear you can snap a man's neck like it's nothin'."

"I'm here to find out what he told Batman. Nothing more, Ms. Todd."

"Catherine."

"Catherine, then."

The woman regarded him coldly, glanced over her shoulder, and shut the door. Superman followed her to the small kitchen and watched as she put the groceries away. Bread, eggs, butter, a head of lettuce, and some coffee. There was nothing else in the fridge and he wondered how much money they had. He doubted it was much.

"I told Willis not to mess around with the Joker," she said, locating a beer and sucking it down greedily. "That man's crazier than all the rest combined. But we need the money." Superman resisted the urge to ask whether they needed money for drugs or for Jason. Being overly judgemental wouldn't get him much of anything now.

"What does Willis do for Joker exactly?"

"Nothin' special," Catherine said, shrugging. "He runs drugs is all."

"Is that what he told Batman?"

"Yeah, it is," she snapped. "Only Batman didn't believe him, so he beat him up."

Superman didn't know whether he should defend Batman or simply let the comment go. He was distracted when he felt a small hand snake into his. He looked down and found Jason with a small smile on his face and holding out a crayon drawing to him. Superman took it and looked it closely. It was a rough rendition of what he recognized as Park Avenue in the heart of Crime Alley. There were stick figures all over the street running away from what was clearly a child's version of a clown. Superman knelt on one knee in order to be at Jason's eye level.

"What is this?"

"A picture of the Joker," Jason said quietly. "You know, in case you didn't know what he looked like."

"You've seen him?"

"Everyone's seen him in Crime Alley," Jason told him, his tone conveying that Superman had clearly asked a stupid question. "He's always hanging out down there. That's why not even the big kids want to go there anymore."

That was by-far the most productive aspect of this conversation. He now had a general location for where the Joker was wandering about. He folded the boy's drawing and stuck it in his belt.

"Thank you, Jason. You've been very helpful."

"Are you going to help Batman now?"

"I am."

"Do you now him?"

"Yes, I do," Superman said simply even though that was a far more complicated question than the kid would ever know.

"Is he cool?"

"Pretty cool, yeah," Superman said. "He lives in a giant clubhouse and even has a life size dinosaur model." He winked at Jason as the boy's eyes went wide with excitement and wonder. He had little doubt that what he'd just said would be all over the tenement building within the hour.

He left the apartment after that but as he hovered over the building he heard clearly the slap that Catherine delivered.

"You _never_ poke your nose in other people's business and I never want to hear you telling superheroes stories about the people in this neighborhood ever again. Do you hear me?"

Superman knew that Catherine was only scared about what the Joker might do if he heard that Jason had helped a vigilante take him down. However, he still made a silent promise that he would come back and give Willis and Catherine a firm warning about what would happen if they did not at least try to give their son a better life than this.

Because that little boy deserved far better.


End file.
